


Brief Moments in Time

by osheamobile



Series: The Clocktower is Broken but the Gears Still Turn [2]
Category: RWBY
Genre: Notes and Other Snapshots, Side Story
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-03-13
Updated: 2019-09-16
Packaged: 2019-11-16 16:50:02
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 1,503
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18098288
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/osheamobile/pseuds/osheamobile
Summary: Sidestory to Even a Stopped Clock. Contains snapshots and other tidbits that are not crucial to the main story, but are otherwise nice to have.





	1. Grimm & Garrisons

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> G&G Character Sheets from Chapter 13.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I actually did roll these up before writing Chapter 13. And I did roll the rolls made in the chapter, because why not? What do I think I am, a writer or something?
> 
> Not mobile friendly, sorry
> 
> EDIT: whoops hosting photos somewhere only works if you enable sharing, who knew, that should be working now

**Redd Ryder  
** _played by Ruby Rose_

* * *

 

  **Bianca La Neve  
** _played by Weiss Schnee_

* * *

 

 **Isabelle Nightshade  
** _played by Blake Belladonna_

* * *

 

 **Goldie Bernhardt  
** _played by Yang Xiao Long_

 


	2. Memento

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Chapter 14.5

Ruby turned back to the headstone as the sounds of footsteps faded. It was hard not to feel relief that she was alone, but she felt it nonetheless. It just felt more personal. Nobody else had the same connection with Mom that she did.

...it wasn’t fair to Yang to think that, she knew. Summer Rose was just as much Yang’s mom as she was Ruby’s. Blood wasn’t everything, after all. It was just that Yang’s relationship with Mom was different.

Was it weird, to feel such a strong connection to someone you barely remembered?

She sat down cross-legged on the grass, facing the headstone. It wasn’t Mom’s grave, she knew that. If it had been, she’d be sitting directly over her mother, as close as she possibly could be. Sometimes, when she was younger, she pretended.

Mom’s body wasn’t there. She never made it back from the mission, she didn’t get buried there on the cliffside. The stone was a memorial, a marker of her favorite spot, but where her final resting place was, Ruby didn’t know. Summer Rose was lost to the winds.

_Thus kindly I scatter._

But still, a younger Ruby pretended she was there. Kicked and screamed at the plot. Begged for her to return. As Ruby grew, her feelings grew along with them. It became bittersweet, rather than devastating. Comforting, instead of terrifying. Weekly trips became a habit, and the accusations turned to questions, and eventually to a one-sided conversation, interrupted only by the length of visit.

If Mom wasn’t anywhere, she might as well be there on the cliff. Might as well be there, listening.

That was why Ruby had wanted her teammates, her _friends,_ to come with and see the site. The cliffside had become just as important to her as it had her mother, albeit for different reasons, and letting them see it was letting them see a side of herself that only Dad, Yang, Zwei, and Uncle Qrow had ever seen. It was important.

It was also why she was glad they left when they did. Despite letting them into her life… this time was between mother and daughter.

She smoothed her skirts over her knees. The sun was high in the sky behind her, and her shadow didn’t stretch out very far, not even brushing against the headstone.

“Hey, Mom.”

Ruby closed her eyes and just smelled the ocean air, wafting up from below the cliffside. These were the smells that she associated with the cliff; the tang of salt on the breeze, the rich scent of the wildflowers in the clearing, the feel of the grass under her fingers. Every aspect of this bled together to create the comforting memory. She felt as if she could wrap herself up in the experience like a blanket and achieve maximum coziness.

“So… that was my team. Weiss and Blake are nice once you get to know them. They’re not fighting anymore, either, so that’s a lot better. And Yang tries to pretend like she wanted to be on a different team than me, but I keep catching her smiling when she thinks I’m not looking.”

She opened her eyes and grinned. “Also, you and I both know that she’d be helpless without me.”

The wind rustled through the trees, and if she let her mind drift, she could imagine that it was the sound of Mom’s laughter all around her. “Yeah, I know, I didn’t think I could say that with a straight face either.

“Dad’s doing well. I don’t know if he comes up here to talk to you either, but I know he misses you a lot. I think he’s been itching to go out on a mission or two lately, he keeps talking to the other teachers about your old glory days, with you, Uncle Qrow, and Aunt Raven.”

Ruby blinked. “Oh! That’s right, he’s been spending some evenings with other teachers at Signal, but _outside the classroom._ I think he has _friends_ now. Yang and I tease him about it, but we’re really proud of him. You remember how he just kind of… shut down back then. But here he is, going out on the town.”

She let herself fall backwards, stretching out on the ground and closing her eyes to let the warmth of the sun shine on her face. She stayed silent, listening to the wind in the trees and the crashing of the waves on the rocks below.

It was so easy to lose herself here on the cliff. To just let go of her tension, drop the walls, and just _be._ It was like looking down the barrel of Crescent Rose; the whole world just fell away. No distractions, just Ruby alone with her own thoughts.

Sometimes she thought about the fact that she could only really focus when she was shooting an enemy or visiting Mom’s grave.

“I think I’m finally starting to understand why you left,” she said out loud, keeping her eyes closed against the midday sun. “It’s because you were a Huntress. I always thought that meant you’d be able to do _anything,_ that you could protect people and stay home and be my mom all at the same time.

“And then I went to Signal and started learning how to do the kind of things you do, and I learned that missions were harder and were a lot more dangerous than I thought as a kid. So I stopped blaming you for dying. Things get hard and Huntresses get overwhelmed, and sometimes you— sometimes _they_ don’t come back. And then I got mad at you all over again for taking a mission like that in the first place, because why would you do that when you had me, and Yang, and Dad? Especially after Raven left, you must have known how hard Dad would take you leaving, too.”

She sighed and opened her eyes, watching the clouds roll across the sky. “But then I had some pretty tough fights. And then I got a team. And then Blake was in trouble and I went after her and then that Torchwick guy was right up there about to shoot her and Sun, and I just _acted._ I didn’t want anyone to get hurt, so I took the shot and brought his attention to me. I could have been seriously hurt, but I did it anyway, and you know what?”

Ruby sat up and stared directly at the grave marker. Unblinking, unwavering, as if the stone was staring back at her and she wasn’t about to be the one who blinked first. “I did it anyway. And I’d do it all over again. For Blake, or Weiss, or Yang, or Jaune, or Zwei, or anyone else I cared about.”

She pulled herself to her feet and stretched, easing the stiffness from her muscles. Her hand went to the small of her back and felt the comforting weight of Crescent Rose, folded down and secure in its frame.

“So yeah, I think I’m starting to understand it. And that’s scary enough on its own, but that’s kinda the point, isn’t it? It’s scary, and it’s hard. It’s kind of like growing up without you here, in that way. But it doesn’t mean it’s not important.”

She glanced back to the path down to the road. The others were probably most of the way home by now. It wouldn’t take her long to catch up.

She turned back to the cliff with a smile. “It was good to see you, Mom. Thanks for listening to me.”


	3. The Penny Dropped

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Unredacted codex to Chapter 19

**Atlas Student Registry  
** _ Vytal Festival Registration _

**Name:** Polendina Robotics M374 Prototype Automated Intelligence P.E.N.N.Y. – Penny Polendina  
**Age:** N/A  
**Class:** Applicant  
**Team:** N/A

**Huntsman-Track Qualifications:**

Weapon Subroutines – Expert  
Aura-Conductive Metals – Tested  
Atlas Military Network – Shielded Registration  
Combat Certification – Pending

**Registered Weapon:** Polendina Robotics Dust Projection Sabers [Prototype] –  _ Designation: I Grilli Cinguettano _

**Semblance Classification:** Manipulation – Puppetry

Penny Polendina has unique control over her Aura and can extend it through anything physically connected to her. So long as she has a physical connection to an object, she can control it as an extension to herself. This is most evident in her choice of weaponry, a series of Dust Projection Sabers physically connected to her frame with high-tensile graphene nanocables that have been specially treated with Dust for additional strength and conductivity. Penny is able to manipulate these sabers through her Semblance and activate their firing modes remotely.

Penny’s Semblance is identical to that of her physical likeness, an unanticipated result in her initial construction. The investigation of this phenomenon was cancelled on April 3rd by Director N. Häcksler, with the associated results sealed.

It is currently unknown whether Penny’s Semblance can be utilized with other objects not specifically designed for her Aura.

**Combat Specialization:** Ranged Support (primary), Battlefield Control (secondary)


End file.
